There have been many interesting story lines at Sampdoria this season, including manager Giampaolo launching exciting prospects like Torreira and Schick, as well as Luis Muriel having a strong comeback season. The Colombian striker gave an extensive interview to Italian Football TV, a You Tube channel dedicated to connecting English speaking Calcio fans from around the world, about his teammates, the comparisons to Ronaldo and the best defenders he faced in Serie A
Which of his teammates impressed him the most “There are a lot of young players who have stuck out to me this season, its hard to just choose one when so many have really impressed me. At first I think think much of them because I didn’t think they’d be able to do this well so quickly in the serie a. The guys I’m speaking about are Torreira, Schick, Linty, Praet. They play as if they’ve been in the Serie A for so long: its beautiful to see”
On the player he's most often compared to “Comparisons to El Fenomeno? Like I’ve always said, its great to heart this being said about me but I don’t see myself in the way Ronaldo played, maybe others do but I look to do my own things & for me it would be amazing to even have half the career he did, he was incredible, he inspired me a lot.”
Toughest opponents in Italy" Best defenders I ever played in Serie A? The two who impressed me the most: Thiago Silva when he was playing at Milan, I played against him when I was at Lecce and then Barzagli from Juventus. They are the toughest to dribble or to beat on a one-on-one. A goalkeeper I wouldn’t want to take a penalty against? Handanovic from Inter. He’s such a complete and strong keeper who saves a lot of penalties”
His prediction for the Champions League "Juventus could go really far in UCL, Real Madrid for me are the favorites to win it”
“Ultimate 5 v 5 team? Neymar, Messi, Draxler, Neuer, Bentaleb”
The players he looked up to as a kid "Idols as a kid from Serie A? I watched a lot of Milan & Inter as a kid: El Fenomeno was one of my idols & Rui Costa from Milan I watched a lot. I never thought about anything else but being a footballer, i never thought about finishing school or getting another job. I never thought about anything else”
On his current manager “Giampaolo? He’s great coach who’s proving it everyday and overtime the team plays, something new is always seen. Theres no point of me in even saying certain things when they are seen so easily. He gives a lot to Sampdoria, in terms of the way our team plays and how he grows the young players. Like I said before how I didn’t think they could do this well that fast, they deserve credit but also give credit to Giampaolo. This is what he does great other than keeping the group united, even for the players that play less, he knows how to keep us together, thats one of his strengths”
